Green Jean (2002)
Green Jean is a 2002 video game released for Windows. In development since late-2000, it was started by Cor-Son Games and Avalanche Software for the Dreamcast, with a PlayStation conversion commissioned to Radical Entertainment. Cor-Son and Radical wound up finishing it alongside Crystal Dynamics and had it released for Windows, with Avalanche Software being rehired to provide additional work for a release on the XBOX. Gearbox Software would produce an expansion pack for the Windows version. Cor-Son self-published the Windows version while Eidos Interactive published the XBOX version. A GameCube port was made, but it only received a European release as a budget title and was a direct conversion of the Windows title. It wasn't released through Eidos, rather, it was released through Empire as Cor-Son never expected to release the game in Europe. Plot After a string of disasters plague Welcher City by a new mutant, along with the theft of a nuclear generator by a supposedly reformed Dr. Unk, Green Jean, in the midst of trying to find a cure for her affliction after wearing herself thin, is framed for it. To make matters worse, Nega Jean falls for the imposter and plans on destroying her. Jean must unite with Nega Jean and Unk to fight the imposter and The Downer, a demon who summoned the imposter Jean in the first place. Eventually, Jean is sent to the Downer's home world and faces him along with her dark side. Development The game was in production since 2000, with Avalanche Software producing it in cooperation with Cor-Son Games for the Dreamcast while Radical Entertainment was working on a PlayStation port of the game. Promotions for the game were found in the previous installment in the series, along with ads in gaming magazines. It was set to be released in 2001, but the discontinuation of the Dreamcast and Cor-Son feeling wary of releasing a game on the soon-to-be obsolete PlayStation led to the game getting scrapped. However, seeing the opportunity of producing a game in the series to bring in an audience from the then current generation of gaming, Cor-Son decided to revive the project. They brought on staff members from Radical Entertainment to help remodel the game, namely focusing on Avalanche's version since it was built for a sixth-generation system and could easily be tweaked to fit the quality of then current systems. After completing the prototype, Cor-Son decided to release the game on the PlayStation 2 because of its strong sales. Sony Computer Entertainment of America opted to publish the game since Cor-Son were unable to secure any other interested publishers. They were going to go with Gathering of Developers since Cor-Son had an office in Dallas and would make it easier to coordinate the project, but they opted out since their owners, Take Two Interactive, felt that the game didn't fit the company's standards. Empire Interactive was also considered, but they declined for unknown reasons (though they would become the game's distributor in the UK due to an oversight with the game's soon to be publisher) Upon sending SECA the prototype, neither Cor-Son nor Radical were able to keep contact with SCEA for nearly a month, and when they were able to, Cor-Son discovered that SCEA intended to rework the entire game and potentially make it a franchise of their own, namely by giving it a similar tone to their other franchises and making it more cartoonish. This infuriated Cor-Son to the point that they pulled out of the project and proclaimed that they would never focus on producing games for the PlayStation 2 flat-outright. Cor-Son pitched the game to Eidos Interactive and they agreed to do it. Prior to this, Cor-Son published a Windows version, which served as a demo for the main game and would help determine what needed to go into the master version. Cor-Son and Radical Entertainment were the direct forces behind the game, the former for the concept, premise, ownership of the property and commissioning and the latter for the execution, with additional work by Crystal Dynamics after Eidos agreed to publish it as they owned the former. Avalanche Software worked on the XBOX port and the multiplayer games, and have also contributed the Dreamcast beta, which became the basis for the main game. The game first saw a release on Windows, and it later received a release on the XBOX, with additional content and XBOX Live compatibility. An expanded version of the Windows port was produced by Gearbox Software, and contains material from the XBOX version. The XBOX and later Windows version each never saw a release outside of North America. GameCube Port A port for the GameCube was made, but only saw a release in Europe since Cor-Son didn't want to release the game anywhere else (they had final approval on what was to be done in the game since they coordinated and funded the entire game). Feeling that the XBOX was the most powerful system at the time, they feared that a release on any other platform could compromise integral features and hurt further performance. One of the selling points of the game was its XBOX Live compatibility, and thus Cor-Son saw no reason to release the game on other traditional home systems. In spite of this, an unauthorized port was made for the GameCube and saw a release in Europe. It came about from miscommunication between Cor-Son and Empire Interactive, but mainly occurred due to Empire paying Cor-Son to release it in Europe. Due to a lack of resources and being unable to obtain the rights to release the XBOX version, Empire produced a watered-down version for the GameCube and released it as a budget title. Reception The game received mixed to favorable reviews in general. The Windows version received lukewarm reviews, with missed opportunities and vanilla gameplay being the prime downside to it. The XBOX version received the best reviews, thanks to its improved gameplay and decently executed multiplayer mode and is considered to be the definitive version of the game. Conversely, the GameCube version received mixed to negative reviews, which stem from poor frame rate and the removal of core features. Category:Xbox Games Category:Nintendo Gamecube games Category:Video Games with Multiple Developers